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        Akeen interest in Andhra's vegetarian cuisine inspired Jigyasa Giri and Prathibha Jain to write a book Cooking at Home with Pedatha, with the instructions and guidelines from Pedatha (Pedatha means grandmother in Telugu).
 

Authors and publishers of the book Cooking at Home with Pedatha, Jigyasa Giri and Prathibha Jain holding aloft the ‘Best Vegetarian Cook Book in the World’ award.

        The book has won the prestigious title of the 'Best Vegetarian Cook Book in the World' at the Gourmand Awards 2006 held in Beijing, China. It was one among the ten books chosen by Gourmand to decorate the Leith restaurant at the London Book Fair held recently.

        A Gujarati by birth, Jigyasa married into an Andhra family. 'I was always fascinated by Andhra's cuisine. My husband's 85-year-old pedatha Subhadra Krishna Rau Parigi is the inspiration and source of the recipes. Pedatha is the oldest offspring of the former President of India V V Giri,' Jigyasa Giri told News Today.

        The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are considered the Oscars of the cook book world for food and wine books. Gourmand means 'a lover of good food'. 'More than 60 countries participated in the cook book contest and over 40 books in different languages were sent to participate in these awards,' said Prathiba Jain. The book also won the Gourmand India Awards for Best Cookbook Design, Best Cookbook Photography, Best Cookbook Cover, Best Local Cookery Book and Best First Cookbook.

        Over 60 recipes ranging from chutneys, powders, rice dishes, vegetables, dal presentations to sweets are present in the book. The photographs of these recipes have been taken by Srivatsa Shandilya and cover design by Prabodh Jain and Kavitha Shivan of Envission Communications.

        The book also contains transliteration scheme for pronunciation of Telugu terms. 'We have got a wonderful feedback from Andhra and even people from rural areas call us and congratulate. We are planning to write more such books,' said Prathiba Jain. The cost of the book is Rs 450 and is available in all leading outlets